Grizzlies Weekly: 4 East Coast Road Games

Grizzlies Weekly: Utah Heads to East Coast for 4 Games 

West Valley City, Utah – The Utah Grizzlies road trip continues this week as they head to the Eastern time zone to face-off against 3 separate teams in the ECHL’s South division.

On Wednesday night Utah is at Greenville for the first time since February 1, 2020, a game Utah won 6-4. On Friday Utah will face the Savannah Ghost Pirates for the first time ever. The road trip concludes with a 2 game series at Orlando.

The Utah Grizzlies will host the Allen Americans for a 3 game series on February 22, 24-25. February 24th and 25th is Grizzlies Fight Cancer Weekend, with specialty jerseys featuring names of those impacted by cancer. Face-off all 3 evenings is at 7:10 pm. Tickets are available at utahgrizzlies.com or by calling (801) 988-8000.

Games This Week

Wednesday, February 15, 2023 – Utah at Greenville. 5:05 pm. Bon Secours Wellness Arena. – It’s the first meeting between the clubs since February 1, 2020 when Utah won 6-4 at Greenville.

Friday, February 17, 2023 – Utah at Savannah. 5:30 pm. Enmarket Arena. – First ever meeting vs Savannah.

Sunday, February 19, 2023 – Utah at Orlando. 1:00 pm. Amway Center.

Monday, February 20, 2023 – Utah at Orlando. 5:00 pm. Amway Center.

You can catch every game on FloHockey and audio on the Grizzlies YouTube channel.

All Times Mountain

Games Last Week

Friday, February 10, 2023 – Utah 1 Rapid City 7 -  Johnny Walker scored Utah’s lone goal on the power play. Utah was 1 for 4 on the power play. Rapid City was 3 for 6. Andrew Nielsen and Brandon Cutler each had 1 assist. RC outshot Utah 42 to 17. Zach Court had 2 goals and 1 assist for RC. Jimmy Soper had 2 goals in his Rush debut.

Saturday, February 11, 2023 – Utah 3 Rapid City 4 (Overtime) – Andrew Nielsen had 1 goal and 1 assist. Brandon Cutler had 2 assists. Aaron Thow and Cameron Wright each scored a goal for Utah. RC outshot Utah 40 to 38. Utah went 2 for 8 on the power play and was 3 for 3 on the penalty kill.

Who’s Been Hot Lately

Brandon Cutler has a point in 10 straight games. Cutler has 16 points in his last 10 games (7 goals, 9 assists). Cutler has an assist in 4 straight games. 

Andrew Nielsen is tied for 4th among league defenseman with 35 points. Nielsen has a point in 7 of his last 9 games. Nielsen has 11 points in his last 9 games (4 goals, 7 assists). Nielsen leads all league defenseman with 23 power play points (6 goals, 17 assists). Nielsen has a penalty minute in 9 straight games.  

Tarun Fizer has a point in 7 of his last 8 games. 

Cameron Wright  is tied for the league lead with 6 game winning goals. Wright leads all league rookies with 163 shots. Wright took 12 shots on Feb. 11 at Rapid City. 

Bear Bites: Team Notes

Utah is 2nd in the league in penalty minutes per game at 18.16. Utah went 8-3-1 in 12 games in January. Utah is 12-3 when scoring first. Utah is 6-0 when leading after 1 period. Utah is 14-1 when leading after 2 periods. Utah is 7-3-2 in one goal games. 

Recent Transactions

Forward Brandon Cutler signed a PTO with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles on February 14. Cutler lost an assist on February 10th at Rapid City to end an 8 game point streak but he leaves for Colorado with a point in 9 of his last 10 games with Utah. Cutler had 3 assists at Rapid City on February 11th in a 4-3 overtime loss. Cutler has 16 points in his last 10 games. 

Goaltender Trent Miner was reassigned to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles on February 13. Miner is in his second full season as a professional. He is the Grizzlies all-time record holder with 9 shutouts, including 2 in the 2022-2023 season. Defenseman Jordon Stone was released by the club. Stone appeared in 8 games with Utah this season and 26 games since the start of the 2021-2022 season.

Utah Grizzlies 2022-2023 Roster

Forwards (12): Dylan Fitze, Tarun Fizer, Keaton Jameson, Jordan Martel, Vladislav Mikhalchuk, Tyler Penner, Dakota Raabe, Christian Simeone, Cam Strong, Zach Tsekos, Johnny Walker, Cameron Wright.

Defenseman (9): Victor Bartley, Joey Colatarci, Brycen Martin, Connor McDonald, Andrew Nielsen, Kyle Pouncy, James Shearer, Cory Thomas, Aaron Thow.

Goaltenders (2): Garrett Metcalf, Lukas Parik.  

2022-2023 Utah Grizzlies Regular Season Totals (league rankings)

Overall record: 19-24-2

Home record: 9-11

Road record: 10-13-2

Win percentage: .444

Streak: Lost 5

Standings Points: 40

Last 10: 4-5-1

Goals per game: 2.67 (25th)  Goals for: 120

Goals against per game: 3.62 (21st)  Goals Against: 163

Shots per game: 28.64 (26th)  

Shots against per game: 34.98 (24th)

Power Play: 42 for 213 – 19.7 % (16th)

Penalty Kill: 164 for 203 – 81.4 % (Tied 12th)

Penalty Minutes: 817. 18.16 per game.

Shorthanded Goals: 3.

Shorthanded Goals Allowed: 5.

Record When Scoring First: 12-3.

Opposition Scores First: 7-21-2.   

Record in One Goal Games: 7-3-2. 

SCORING          1ST       2ND               3RD               OT                  TOTAL       

Utah Grizzlies     33         48                   37                   2                      120                                       

Opposition           53         50                   58                   2                      163

Team Leaders (2022-23 Regular season)

Goals: Cameron Wright (13). 

Assists: Andrew Nielsen (27). 

Points: Nielsen (35).

Plus/Minus: Zach Tsekos (+2).

PIM: Nielsen (131)

Power Play Points: Nielsen (23)

Power Play Goals: Nielsen/Johnny Walker (6)

Power Play Assists: Nielsen (17).  

Shots on Goal: Cameron Wright (163).  

Shooting Percentage: Tsekos (23.1 %) 9 for 39.   

Game Winning Goals: Wright (6)

Wins: Trent Miner (8)

Save %: Miner (.909).

Goals Against Average: Miner (3.12)

Active Streaks 

Goal Streaks: Andrew Nielsen, Aaron Thow, Cameron Wright (1)

Assist Streaks: Brandon Cutler (4), Nielsen (2) Tarun Fizer, Keaton Jameson, Tyler Penner (1)

Point Streaks of 2 or more: Cutler (10) Nielsen (2)

Best Grizzlies Home Attendances in the 2022-2023 Season

10,397 – January 28, 2023 – RC at Utah.

7382 – January 27, 2023 – RC at Utah.

6927 – December 30, 2022 – Idaho at Utah.

6494 – December 17, 2022 – KC at Utah.

6415 – February 4, 2023 – Allen at Utah.

6349 – November 18, 2022 – Idaho at Utah.

6325 – December 28, 2022 – Idaho at Utah. – Best Grizzlies Wednesday home crowd in 10 years.

Upcoming Promotions at Maverik Center

• Wednesday, February 22, 2023 – Allen at Utah. 7:10 pm. Bud Light College Night.
• Friday, February 24, 2023 – Allen at Utah. 7:10 pm. Grizzlies Fight Cancer Night. AFCU Friday
• Saturday, February 25, 2023 – Allen at Utah. 7:10 pm. Grizzlies Fight Cancer Weekend
• Friday, March 10, 2023 – Kansas City at Utah. 7:10 pm. Healthcare Appreciation Night.

Multiple Point games (2022-2023 Regular Season)

10: Andrew Nielsen

7: Cameron Wright

5: Tarun Fizer,

4: Dakota Raabe, Zach Tsekos

3: Jordan Martel, Johnny Walker.

2: Victor Bartley, Brandon Cutler, Keaton Jameson, James Shearer, Ben Tardif.

1: Dylan Fitze, Connor McDonald, Cam Strong.